Behavior Affects Outcomes

The way human behavior affects performance has been my passion and interest for my entire life.

The way we behave in any situation is the result of a multitude of factors. Of these factors, there are  three human needs that have certainly interested me more than other factors, and have a major influence on how people behave. They needs are:

·  The need for Achievement-The need to do things better, quicker, faster, more effectively.

·  The need for Affiliation-The need to be liked and accepted by the group.

·  The need for Power-The need to impose your will onto others.

Prof. David McClelland has been the world expert in this field and I recommend you study his work.  My comments are based on the many hundreds of persons I have observed and interacted with over for nearly four decades.

In my experience, I have found that Achievers seem to make up only about 15 % of a typical Western population, with Super Achievers at only about 3% of that figure. Those with a predominantly Affiliation need represent around 65%, and the Power people around 20%. People have a combination of these needs, but some people have a predominant need.

The manifestation of the above needs, in addition to a person’s management style, their ego states, (Parent, Adult, Child, as in Transactional Analysis)and their Learning styles and energy level to a large degree determines their observable behavior. Some of my observations include:

·  Super Achievers never stop achieving. Even in social situations, they are still “working”. They set moderate risks and strive to beat these goals. Achievers sometimes perceive Power people to be idiots, whereas the Power people often see Achievers as threats. This could explain that instant dislike people sometimes experience of one another. Super Achievers never stop achieving. Even in social situations, they are still “working”. Super achievers also never stop thinking about achieving. They could be in a line at a supermarket and if the service is slow, they are already thinking of ways to improve the situation .

An Achiever with an “Adult” approach to life and who is high on doing, high on the Adult ego state, and has a management style acceptable to others, often ends up in a leadership position.  I have also  seen that Managers who have approximately the same need to Achieve as they do for Affiliation, experience difficulty in firing staff.

·  To the Affiliates, feeling lonely, disliked and disrespected causes great stress, and living together in harmony, having friends, and being close and friendly with people is very fulfilling. An Affiliate makes for a great spouse as they are very considerate and try to avoid conflict.

·  The Power people tend have a “Tell” management style, are very concerned about their status and their  image, they  like to control, they often withhold information to enhance their position, they may be insecure, thus having to put up a front, and are reluctant to apply positive rewards. They enjoy being the center of attention. They often take ideas of others as their own.

The more one becomes knowledgeable of how these various needs affect behavior and therefor performance, the more one can predict behavior and manage the behavior as opposed to be managed by unacceptable.

For illustrate, imagine a bossy Power person strutting around your apartment saying “this picture is too high, that one is too low”, or making a comment like “all women’s skirts are below the knee.” One could this statement and additional similar ones, or one could respond by saying “Now that’s an interesting comment, who did the research?” Predominantly Power people tend to be bullies and just like on the school playground, standing up to a bully is usually the best long term approach, depending on the situation, of course.

For a moment, imagine a typical organization structure with an Achiever boss at the top and three subordinates, one an Achiever, one an Affiliate, and one a Power person. The Power person is going to try and dominate his/her space by trying to manage the others. It may work on the Affiliate, but  it’s not going to work on the Achievers. That Power person is going to spend most of the time trying to enhance his/her position power and therefore less time achieving. If unsuccessful, the Power person may leave, often for a higher position in another company, because that company was initially impressed by his apparent successes, and probably did a poor interviewing job.

If a predominantly Personal Power person were appointed as the boss of a company or a division , the Achiever subordinate would stay only as long as it suited the Achiever. When that Achiever leaves, the person typically would be replaced by a Power person or an Affiliate.

Repetition of the non -replacement of Achievers in an organization will ensure that the performance of the company declines accordingly.

If the management style of the Achievement organization was participative, this will change to a “Tell” management style. High maturity level achievement orientated  individuals will not accept this management style.

If you find true achievers, never let them go!

The first thing Bernard Kirk tells his clients is that the absolute critical factor in any business is people.

With seventeen years of operational management, twenty two years of strategy implementation for multiple entrepreneurs, professionals and high level businesses across the globe, Bernard is an expert in how people affect outcomes.

Having the right people doing the right things in the right job, is usually the difference between mediocrity and greatness for both the individual and the organization. Bernard’s methods of determining what needs to be done by what type of person and how to select and retain those persons has attracted interest on an international basis. Bernard has consulted in the retail, hospitality, manufacturing, medical, recycling professional and academic fields. He lives in Arizona, USA.